Wake Forest newcomers pick up slack

By Adam Smith / Times-News

Published: Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 12:49 AM.

WINSTON-SALEM — Travis McKie was quick to delve into what he considered a laundry list of personal deficiencies from Friday night, with missed shots and leadership by example the most annoying issues to him.

“I didn’t do a good job,” he said.

But as backward as it sounds, that actually might have been the most essential element of Wake Forest’s 73-66 exhibition basketball victory against Rollins at Joel Coliseum.

McKie and C.J. Harris — the Demon Deacons’ only veterans, most known commodities and proven producers — didn’t perform at the apex of their established games.

And yet, with several members of the team’s seven-player recruiting class stepping forward, things still turned out OK, albeit against a Division II opponent.

“One or two guys can’t win ballgames,” Harris said. “We need everybody, and they did a great job. Each and every one of them contributed.”

WINSTON-SALEM — Travis McKie was quick to delve into what he considered a laundry list of personal deficiencies from Friday night, with missed shots and leadership by example the most annoying issues to him.

“I didn’t do a good job,” he said.

But as backward as it sounds, that actually might have been the most essential element of Wake Forest’s 73-66 exhibition basketball victory against Rollins at Joel Coliseum.

McKie and C.J. Harris — the Demon Deacons’ only veterans, most known commodities and proven producers — didn’t perform at the apex of their established games.

And yet, with several members of the team’s seven-player recruiting class stepping forward, things still turned out OK, albeit against a Division II opponent.

“One or two guys can’t win ballgames,” Harris said. “We need everybody, and they did a great job. Each and every one of them contributed.”

They picked up some key slack as McKie (17 points) and Harris (12 points) still reached double digits, but struggled to connect from the field (a combined 7 of 23 shooting).

Much again will be expected of McKie and Harris this season, which officially starts for the Demon Deacons next Friday night against Radford. They are the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top two returning scorers from last season.

But as the Rollins exhibition at least hinted, maybe Wake Forest’s freshmen can ease and distribute some of the burden.

“We can come in and bring some weight off their shoulders,” Miller-McIntyre said. “They don’t have to do everything that they had to do in the past. We can relieve them a little bit.”

Miller-McIntyre and Jones knocked down 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions during a second-half stretch in which five freshmen supplied 15 straight points for the Demon Deacons.

Wake Forest coach Jeff Bzdelik fielded a starting lineup of Miller-McIntyre at point guard, Harris and McKie on the wings and freshmen Tyler Cavanaugh and Arnaud Adala Moto down low.

The Demon Deacons’ best combination Friday night looked to be the three-guard backcourt of Miller-McIntyre, Harris and Jones — plenty of quickness on the court there — paired with McKie and Thomas at the forwards.

“We can go small and that can really work for us,” Harris said. “We can really move the ball out there.”

Appalachian State transfer Mitch Woods led Rollins, of the Sunshine State Conference, with 14 points. Rollins’ roster includes six former Division I players.

Rollins, employing a Princeton-style offense, held early leads of 9-0 and 16-6 before the Demon Deacons gained control and moved ahead by as many as 15 points in the second half.

“We got down but we fought our way back,” Bzdelik said. “I’m extremely pleased. Not satisfied, never will be satisfied. But very, very pleased with the fact that we competed and we won against a team that really challenged us offensively and defensively.”